Intertwined
by merlinlost
Summary: Merlin is new to Camelot High. He's the total opposite of Arthur...so why does Arthur feel so attracted to him? And after a disastrous first encounter, will Arthur be able to win him back? Merthur SLASH. AU highschool fic. Some Merlin WHUMP! Written by a friend whilst I poked about and edited some. Rated T because, well, who knows what may happen.
1. New to it All

**Ooookay, so my friend is paranoid the internet will eat her if she makes a fanfic account...but she also loves writing fic. So, I let her use my account for this story...the rest of what comes forth on this page will be entirely her words :)  
Erm, except for when I got all dictatorial and made her implement some of my ideas.  
Oh, and for anyone still reading my other fic :( Sorry! I know I haven't updated in forever, but my pitiful deskjob is pitifully keeping my occupied.  
P.s. in this story, merlin is non-magical. he has a different talent.  
Yep, that just about covers it.**

If I owned merlin…well, let's just say what would happen to the characters should probably stay inside my head. So no, I don't own this – all rights to BBC.

**I just had a random idea to write an AU on merlin and Arthur/merthur. Hope you like, please review : )**

"Pssst, Arthur. Look at _the new kid._"

Arthur Pendragon looked up from his lunch to eye the new student at Camelot High. Percival, who had just spoken, started sniggering madly. "Is he wearing _makeup? _What is he, some kind of goth freak?"

The new kid was, indeed, wearing makeup. Light traces of black eyeliner were drawn under and over his eyelids, matching the dark strands of hair that stuck up in chaotic disarray from his head. Silvery black jewelry jangled about his wrists and Arthur could even see a couple of rings on the student's fingers.

Arthur felt a strange feeling of respect for the student just by the way he decided to dress, as if it didn't matter what people thought of him, even when he was new and probably didn't have any friends yet.

Quickly, Arthur smothered the emotion. It was stupid, he hadn't even met the kid yet, and judging by his friend's reactions, the kid was not destined to be in the "cool" crowd.

Which Arthur was in, of course. Him, Percival, Elyon, Leon, Morgana…well, he supposed Morgana would always be considered cool, just because she was a Pendragon, albeit being adopted by his father.

Morgana was more like one of those people that were considered cool by being uncool. She wore more makeup than the norm and hung around the outcast kids. She was also kind of a goth too, Arthur decided. Er, not that she preferred that name, sniping in his ear about being "iconoclastic" and not being "her father's puppet."

Whatever that meant.

Arthur smiled along with his friends. A new student…this was going to be fun.

**Pretty short chapter, but I was wondering what you guys thought and if I should continue with this. please review and let m know if I should or what you liked or didn't like! Thanks for reading**


	2. Distractions

**Greetings, Fellow Fanfictioners!**

**Alright so just in case there is any confusion, this is merlinlost's account but her lovely friend writing the story below :)  
With some helpful (*ahem* not annoying at all) tips from merlinlost. **

**ONWARD! Er, I mean...merlinlost's friend hopes you have a happy reading :) **

"Hi, I'm Merlin Emrys."

Arthur looked up, shocked. The new kid had walked over from the lunch line and was standing in front of his table! Percival and Elyon started choking on their lunches, trying to contain their laughter.

What was this kid, blind? Could he not tell he was unwelcome here? Everyone in the hall went quiet, and stared at Arthur, wondering what he was going to do.

Arthur looked up, ready to bite the kid's head off. Then his eyes met Merlin's and his words faltered from his mouth, unsaid.

Damn. Those eyes were _blue…beautifully blue. _Wait, what? Yeah, they were blue, and they belonged to the face of a condemned loser, and they were most definitely not attractive in any way.

Arthur shook his head, almost laughing aloud at the absurdity in his thoughts, and let his smile play out as he remembered what he was supposed to say.

"Emrys! I'm Arthur Pendragon, and you're leaving."

The boy's eyes – _damn, those piercing blue sapphires – _flickered hesitantly.

"Er…"

"You heard him, get away, freak." Percival said. Now that_ Arthur_, school jock and most popular boy in Camelot High, had just condemned the new kid to loserdom, it was alright to go ahead and mouth off. "What are you still doing here?"

"Er, I…" Merlin's eyes flickered back to Arthur's light blue gaze. Arthur restrained himself from flinching at the shock and hurt in them. "Right." Then Merlin left, leaving nothing but the squeak of his dark brown boots behind him.

Arthur snorted, pretending he wasn't trembling from the intensity of Merlin's gaze. Which was pretty stupid. He _wasn't _trembling from the kid's gaze. Nope, not at all.

"Loser." Merlin's back stiffened, still near enough to have heard Arthur's words. Arthur slumped slightly. He had been unaware of the boy's proximity. Merlin resumed his retreat, a little quicker this time.

By the time lunch was over, Merlin had found a table to sit at. Thank goodness. Could anything be more awkward than what had just happened? His eyes stung a bit when he thought about Arthur, and he nearly slapped himself with his own hand.

Why was he musing over this?

To hell with Pendragon. He could go…Merlin couldn't think of anything vicious enough for Arthur to go through and stopped, concentrating on the conversation at hand instead.

The occupants at the table he found himself in were Gwen, Morgana, Will, and Lancelot.

Gwen was sweet, a little too sweet. Morgana was a totally opposite person, wicked and scheming but, Merlin soon found out, really good to the core as well. Just a little perverted…

"Lance, I bet you and Will have been groping in the bathroom again."

Lancelot's head snapped up from his lunch, a blush spreading across his cheeks. "Pardon?"

"Oh, cut the innocent crap. I can see you blushing. Will?" Morgana swiveled her head to grin mischievously at the brunette sitting beside Gwen. "What have to say about this?"

Will avoided her eyes. "Morgana, Lance and I…we broke up, remember?"

Gwen shifted awkwardly.

Morgana just chuckled merrily, before turning towards Merlin. "They dated a few years back…freshman year."

Merlin nodded, too consumed in his own swirling mire of thoughts to reply. Why did Arthur hate him so much?

Morgana had explained it all – how she was a Pendragon also, but definitely not "like Arthur". Apparently, they had a pretty strict father who wouldn't even accept the fact that his son was bi.

Morgana said it was ridiculous.

Arthur retracted his statement and said he wasn't bi.

Uther (their father) said he was pleased to hear it.

Merlin was vindictively glad at the outcome. Huh, Arthur got what was coming to him. Not that Merlin had anything wrong with people being bi, he was bi himself. But anything that caused Arthur harm right now was kind of a friend to him.

Why, _why _did Arthur Pendragon hate him so much?

Arthur's emotions seethed within him. This was stupid. Stupid, stupid. But for some reason, Professor Nimueh's calculus lecture was boring the hell out of him. Okay, her lecture's always bored the hell out of him, but the real reason why this was all so _stupid…._

Was the fact that Merlin Emrys was the object of his distraction.

Arthur eyed the other boy warily. He was sitting two seats down from Arthur.

If Arthur leaned a little onto his arm, and pretended to be lazily staring at some math problems on his sheet, he could lift his eyes slightly and ogle Merlin without being detected. Awesome.

Not that he wanted to ogle Merlin, of course. It was just that Nimueh's lecture was so boring.

Arthur scanned his math page in pretense, then quickly shifted his eyes upward to Merlin. The dark-haired boy was, of course, paying rapt attention to the lecture.

Arthur smirked. When Nimueh said something, Merlin's pencil went down on his paper. Wow, the kid really was a bit of a loser…then Arthur's eyes narrowed.

Merlin was dabbing at his paper with the head of his pencil, but Nimueh wasn't saying anything. Merlin bobbed his pencil a bit more, erased, and chewed on the end of his pencil thoughtfully.

Huh? Was Merlin…_doodling?_

The raven haired boy brought his pencil down and made a few strokes, before staring at his page speculatively. Arthur felt a genuine smile light up his face. He _was _doodling! In time to the teacher's lecture! The kid was a _genius…_

"Er, what? Sorry." Arthur shook himself from watching Merlin as the boy looked up from his doodles. Nimueh had asked something.

The professor sighed, exasperated. "And here I was, thinking you were paying attention, Emrys. I said, what was the answer to (insert complicated math problem that shows off Merlin's mathematical genius here).

Merlin blinked, before rattling off the answer mechanically and turning back to his sheet. He made a few edits to his drawing, before looking up at Nimueh innocently, as if he had been merely correcting an answer.

Arthur smiled again. He watched as the boy stuck a startlingly pink tongue out in concentration. Then he shivered a little, watching that tongue dart back and forth…those slender lips purse in concentration…

Arthur jumped loudly when the bell rang. Thank goodness. Nimueh's lecture was getting a little too boring…and Arthur's distraction a little too interesting.

**So, I am in no position to start spouting out calculus problems. Haha, hope you had a good one to plug into that paragraph.**

**Is been way too long since I've done any math, seeing as im majoring in something totally different! Okay anyways, please review and let me know what you think Arthur should do next : ) **


	3. More Knowledge and Encounters

**I *sob* own nothing. All goes to BBC.**

Merlin shuffled out of class sleepily. Man, Nimueh's lectures were pure boredom. Good thing he knew his calculus…he peered down at his math sheet. The penciled in sketch he had been working on was crude compared to others that he had done, but it was still interesting...maybe he could work on it more in his studio?

Merlin went to an art studio after school every day…or as often as he could. It had been far away from his old house so he wasn't always able to go there, but now that he moved to Camelot High, he would be able to walk to the studio after school.

Well, at least one good thing had come from his moving to this school.

Merlin was so absorbed in his new drawing idea that he hardly noticed it when someone spoke from the wall outside the classroom he just came out of.

"What have you got there, Emrys?"

Merlin glanced up, shocked at the voice. _Arthur? _What was _Arthur Pendragon _doing, standing outside class as if he were waiting for him?

Oh yes, probably to explain in more detail what a loser he was.

Merlin sighed, tucking the paper in the back pocket of his skinny jeans. He was not in the mood…was he ever? But especially not today. Not after the move…it was rough enough, having to leave his mother behind. She was being moved to a hospital due to chronic symptoms of difficulty in breathing and aches in her body…and Merlin didn't have the money to continue living alone back in their old home.

So he had moved to Camelot High, the prestigious boarding school near his art studio, and away from his mother's hospital…he hated not being close to his mother, especially when she was sick, but Camelot High was especially interested in his academic levels and had offered to take him in for free.

This way, he was able to continue getting an education and furthering his art skills, while his mother stayed under the hospital's care and insurance.

It wasn't merlin's ideal situation, but it was the only one that worked out.

Merlin swallowed the bubble of sadness that always formed in his throat when he thought about his mother and turned to glare fiercely at Arthur.

"What do you want, Pendragon?" he spat. Arthur's eyebrows raised in surprise.

Good. He wasn't going to let Arthur think he was afraid of him.

"If there's nothing you have to say, I'll be leaving," Merlin said, turning swiftly on his heels and marching down the hallway.

Good. Arthur didn't follow him. _Good…_so why was he feeling so disappointed?

Arthur watched Merlin leave, feeling frustrated at himself. What was he thinking, cornering the kid like that? Why did he even do it?

He ran a hand through his blonde hair in anger. This was stupid. Merlin was dangerous...the kid was knocking his walls down slowly, and Arthur couldn't let this happen.

Especially if Uther found out…if rumors started circulating to his father about how the newest loser didn't get the "special treatment", well, Arthur didn't know if his father would believe him about not being bi anymore.

Arthur couldn't disappoint him.

He just _couldn't. _

He had to do something drastic to push the kid out of his mind for good. To teach him a lesson he wouldn't forget, and convince himself Merlin was the loser he was viewed as.

Besides, this was what he and the others did as a _special inauguration_ for the latest new kid that didn't belong.

Arthur called his mates over, stopping by their lockers one by one.

Percival grinned when he heard Arthur's plan. Elyon chuckled. Leon smiled. Arthur grimaced. What was wrong with him? Why was he feeling a bit remorseful? More than a bit…this plan better work…or…he didn't know what would happen.

Merlin trudged back to Camelot High near nightfall. He hadn't meant to stay so late at the art studio, but had gotten a bit distracted.

The sketch was turning out brilliantly…he had no idea why, but coming to Camelot had totally renewed his ideas for art…it was great…it was –

Merlin had no more chance to celebrate his new found creativity as something large and hard connected with his head and slammed him to his knees.

_What the - ?_

"Emrys." Something hissed from the shadows of the walls of the school. Merlin was vaguely aware that he was still outside the gates of the school. Nobody would be able to hear him…if anything happened.

He stiffened as figures encircled his still-kneeling body.

Something kicked his side brutally and he doubled over, wheezing.

"Welcome to Camelot High. We haven't been formally introduced." A face loomed out of the darkness, and Merlin hissed in anger.

_Arthur._

**Yeah, I hope you guys don't hate me, lol. But Arthur is going to angst majorly after this scene, so don't worry, he and merlin will make up and all that fluffy stuff. Eventually. : )**

**Please review! I love reading them and they really help with the plot ideas!**


	4. Coward

**I failed and posted the chapter that was supposed to come after this first. I switched them back now, but sorry to any initial confusion! **

**BBC owns all. **

Merlin spat blood out of his mouth.

His hair hung flat on his forehead, slick with sweat. "Prat."

"Do you hear him? He just won't shut up!" A large teen with _a great body,_ Merlin reflected grudgingly, crowed in amusement.

Merlin vaguely remembered his name being Percival before the other boy, _Elyon? Edwin? _brought another harsh blow to Merlin's face.

Damn, this was not okay. At all. His body fucking _hurt. _He could fight back…he knew some self defense, it wasn't like the only valuable skill he had was his brains and art…but he knew he was outnumbered.

Any fighting back would just result in more punches. He kept his head down.

Arthur stepped up to the pale, shaking form in front of him. Merlin was on his knees, hunched over his ribs, arms protecting his face. Thin red streams drizzled down his forehead.

This was supposed to make Arthur feel better. This was supposed to make him show merlin his place, and show Arthur where Merlin was in society. This was _not _supposed to make him feel like how he felt now…

Sick, and lightheaded, and as if he was getting a beating himself.

_"Shit." _This was going all wrong.

Shit indeed, Merlin thought, wiping blood from his nose. He had no idea why Arthur was swearing…probably because he realized he got some of Merlin's blood on his fancy shoes or something…

Suddenly, Merlin's initial pain and fear was flooded by anger. Who were these people to try and beat him up anyways? What right did they have to bully him like this?

Why did this happen to him everywhere he went? It couldn't be because he was bi – _Arthur _was bi, too. Or could it?

Did the others know about Arthur? After all, Morgana had let it slip, but she was his adopted sister, maybe his friend's didn't know.

Merlin stood up shakily, swaying on his feet. He pointed one long, slim finger in Arthur's direction.

"Get the hell out of my face."

Someone hissed angrily behind him, and before he knew it, Merlin was back on his knees, his back aching with pain.

He blinked something wet out of his eyes and stared defiantly up at Arthur, who was regarding him with shock. The prat probably thought he was going to start crying and begging for mercy now.

Well, while that felt like a pretty damn good idea…he wasn't going to do it. He wasn't some coward…Arthur was the coward! Why else was he beating Merlin up outside the school with three other mates for some thing they both were?

Merlin tried to get up again, and fell onto the ground with a grunt. Okay, fine, it would be less epic of a confrontation, but he could do ground attack.

"You…" Ugh. Blood trickled out of his mouth. This was disgusting…fucking painful, disgusting, embarrassing. Anger flared through him again.

"You _coward." _Merlin coughed, spitting up more blood. He crawled back up on his knees, facing Arthur defiantly.

"COWARD!"

Arthur flinched, and Merlin felt a momentary satisfaction before he was swept into a wave of pain and nausea. He slid back into the ground, spent. Let Arthur do what he wanted. Merlin had made his point.

To his surprise, Arthur didn't retaliate. "Come on," he muttered, motioning to the others. "Let's not waste our time."

_Waste of time, eh? Are you sure about that? Come back here you _– wait, what the hell was he thinking, there was a time and place to continue a fight, now was not that time.

Merlin dragged himself up, breathing shallowly. He wiped the incessant flow of blood off his face and lay there for a minute, trying to catch his breath.

Suddenly, the fight left him, and he lay, dazed, outside the gates of the school. He was tired…hurt…and alone. He closed his eyes…

* * *

"Merlin? Merlin!" Merlin's eyes snapped up. He jolted back, slapping away the hand that reached for him, eyes wild and wide.

"Merlin! Calm down, it's okay! It's just us!" Merlin surveyed the occupants of the room wildly, before recognizing Gwen and Lancelot.

"Ahh…" he rasped weakly, trying to form words.

"Calm down…just…lay back," Lancelot said hurriedly. He shifted the blanket Merlin suddenly reazlized he was under higher up Merlin's chin.

"Where…" Merlin managed, and Gwen realized what he was trying to ask.

"You're in Lance's dorm. He doesn't share it with anyone right now, so he took you in when we found you…" her voice broke off in a slight breathy sob.

Lancelot's expression darkened. He and Gwen were sitting on two chairs near Merlin's bed. Merlin could make out another bed to his right. That must be where Lance slept…his eyes fluttered closed.

This was _so_ not how he expected his first day of school to be.

Damn…Lance was saying something…what was he saying? Merlin dragged his eyelids back open and fixed them on the other boy.

"…and then we saw you, just lying there on the ground…and we didn't know what to do, so we brought you back up here…you can stay the night if you want, until you get better."

Merlin nodded gratefully, still a little out of it.

"Was it Arthur? And his mates?" Gwen asked furiously, unable to hold back her anger.

Merlin nodded.

Lance gripped the edge of his chair tightly, his knuckles showing white under the taut skin. "I knew it. I _knew _it. Pendragon is such a bitch…"

Merlin smiled weakly. "Yeah…and a coward…I suppose he isn't appreciative of that term. He let me go after I called him that."

"_You _called _Arthur Pendragon _a _coward?" _Gwen stared at Merlin, half alarmed, half impressed.

Lance turned incredulous brown eyes on him. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"Hey, this was after he beat the hell out of me," Merlin rasped indignantly. Suddenly, he bent over, coughing wildly. Lance immediately got up and began patting his back gently.

"I still can't believe you did that," Gwen said, still undecided if she should be in awe of Merlin or cast him aside as a lunatic. "How did you manage to escape?"

Merlin shrugged, wincing when he felt a muscle in his back complain at the movement. "I don't know, he just left me alone after that…"

Lancelot breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness for that. And if he _ever_ tries to lay a finger on you again…"

Merlin glanced up at the brunette, a little perplexed at the intense anger in his voice. Lancelot's warm brown eyes met his own deep blue, and Lancelot shivered for no good reason. A blush crept up his cheeks, and he turned away.

Gwen watched the exchange silently, smiling a little to herself. Well, if one good thing could come out of this, perhaps Lancelot could find someone other than Will in his life…although it didn't seem that Merlin was too interested…oh well, they could work on that.

**Thanks to the fail I mentioned beforehand, the next chapter will be posted simultaneously with this one :) Haha, ah well, this was pretty short anyways! Hope you liked it though! Review please? :)**


	5. Midnight

**In which, Arthur and Lancelot come to some parallel conclusions.**

"Is it true?"

Arthur spun around, clad in nothing but boxers and a thin white tanktop. Well, it was only Morgana.

"Is what true?" He asked nonchalantly, surveying the insides of the refrigerator. Who knew he would be this hungry at midnight?

"Don't ask like it's a question. Everyone's online about how you gave Merlin Emrys one of your _treatments. Is it true?" _

Arthur tried to shrug off Morgana's dagger eyes.

"Maybe, it is, so what?" He reached for a carton of milk.

"_So what? _So Lance phoned me up to tell me Merlin hasn't woken since he confirmed the incident. He might have a concussion or something! What is _wrong _with you."

Arthur started to pour himself a glass of milk, although his appetite had long since faded when Morgana started speaking. He thought he had gone a little light on Merlin, compared to the others…

The boy _was_ pretty thin. Suppose they had cracked a bone…? Arthur tried not to wince. Uther was in the kitchen, too.

"Gave the new boy what he had coming, eh?" his father's voice boomed, and although it was appreciative, Arthur had a sudden urge to whack him in the face.

Of course, he stilled himself…he had gained his father's approval, now he could just go back to how he had treated Merlin before, before the name calling and the beating…well, at least, he could try and treat Merlin the way he wanted to treat him, now that the point was made.

How was it that he wanted to treat Merlin, anyway?

Was it to late to think about that now? Had he done something he couldn't repair…

Morgana's daggers kept scratching his back as he sipped his cup, keeping his eyes downcast. She pulled his wrist, and dragged him out of the kitchen and into the hallway.

"Not that it excuses you from _anything, Arthur,_ but I happen to know what you are going through. Uther is _deluded _if he thinks it is okay to treat people the way he does, but you _can _be different, Arthur. Please tell me you didn't beat Merlin up. Please tell me it was just a bunch of your crazy _friends…_"

Arthur said nothing, still not meeting her eyes.

"The situation may have formed a cage, Arthur Pendragon, but it didn't mean you were trapped in it. There was always a way out…even now." Arthur finally raised his blue eyes to meet her own piercing ones.

Morgana searched his face, then let go of his wrist, as if she had found nothing there. She ripped her gaze away wordlessly, and stalked through the corridor and out of the house.

"Where are you going?" Uther called casually from the kitchen. Arthur felt anger flare within him again at the sound of his father's voice. But should he really be angry at his father? Morgana was right…Uther wasn't the one who explicitly told him to do what he had done.

He was.

"I'm checking on Merlin. Don't try to stop me." Morgana grabbed her jacket and slipped out of the door.

There was silence from the kitchen.

No, it had to be Uther, Arthur thought miserably (why was he miserable?). Morgana didn't understand, she was allowed to go see Merlin, he couldn't (why did he want to?). He was his father's son.

Right?

_There was always a way out…even now. _Arthur stifled the urge to laugh hysterically at Morgana's words. He didn't know if she was right about the reasons he had done what he had. But she was definitely wrong about the repercussions…it _was _too late.

He would never be able to go near Merlin again.

And for the life of him he couldn't understand why this bothered him so much.

* * *

Merlin woke with something heavy sitting atop his head.

What?

No, that couldn't be right. He struggled to open his eyes. The thing on his head grew heavier. What was it? And could it please get off…

Merlin's eyes snapped open. Oh. There was nothing on his head…

He just had a splitting headache. Lovely…

Someone beside him gasped, and he winced as the noise cut through his head painfully.

"Merlin? Are you really awake this time?"

_Morgana?_ What was she doing here? The dark-haired, slim figure of his new friend came into view as she dragged her chair closer to his bedside.

"Erm…" Merlin yawned, wincing at the pain it made in his back. "This time? Hmmm…" he winced again, but not out of pain.

"Did I…"

Morgana allowed herself a smug smile. "Yes, Merlin, you mutter a lot in your sleep." She grinned wider. "It's quite adorable really."

Merlin groaned, flopping his head back on his pillow and yelping as the action brought new waves of pain to his head.

"Lie down, don't hurt yourself." Gwen's voice could be heard overhead. Moments later a cool towel doused his forehead before someone sat in the bed next to him.

Goodness, he was surrounded. Merlin smiled slightly. He had made some good new friends…he was really touched that they cared…and hoped he hadn't said anything too ridiculous whilst sleeping.

"You said some pretty ridiculous things," Morgana voiced, and Merlin groaned again.

Will's low voice was added to the room. "Did you really leave your mother to come move here? That's harsh."

Merlin sighed. "You got all that from my sleep?" He inquired, not really needing to ask. He propped himself on his elbows and watched the room's occupants (Lance was there too, on the other side of Gwen) nod soundlessly.

Every part of him hurt. His back, where he had been kicked by that _gorgeous _and _brute of a boy_ Percival…his forehead and face where Arthur's mates had tested out their knuckles on his nose and lips...and his wrists where he had been defending himself.

Oh yes and his ribs. His ribs hurt like hell, too.

Wait! Wasn't it Thursday today? _He had started school on a Wednesday, so yes, Merlin keep up,_ he berated himself mentally, _it was Thursday!_

_"Shit!" _Merlin exclaimed, making them all jump.

"How much school have I missed? Is it past eight already?"

The others looked at him, shocked and slightly perplexed. Morgana gently put an arm on his shoulder. "Merlin, you've been out for two days. It's a Saturday."

"What!" Merlin yelped, tossing the blankets aside and trying to get up. His knees wobbled slightly and he slumped back down.

Will snorted. "_Merlin._ Calm yourself. It's only two days of school. We obviously couldn't run around telling your teachers what really happened, because Arthur is an angel in everyone's money grabbing books and Uther has way too much connection. So we told everyone you're sick."

Merlin blinked at him, slowly.

"Of course all the students know the truth…I think some of the less dull teachers are actually catching on, too. Like Professor Nimueh…she asked why you had looked perfectly fine Wednesday morning and are suddenly ill. But its not like anyone can do anything…" Gwen trailed off miserably.

Merlin breathed hard through his aching nose and slouched back on the bed, shifting his eyes downwards.

"Goodness, Merlin, it's just two days of school. What's the big deal?"

Morgana punched Will in the arm, and he let out an exclamation, completely thrown off guard.

"What, it's true!"

Merlin said nothing, staring at his bedsheets as if they were suddenly the most fascinating shade of white.

"Is it because of your mum…?" Gwen asked softly.

"What has this got to do with his moth- OUCH!" Will swatted Morgana's offending arm away.

Merlin nodded so softly they could have missed it all eyes weren't riveted on his face. "When I left her…it was to come here, to get a better, free education…an to be closer to the studio. I don't want to waste any days."

Gwen inhaled sharply.

"What studio?" Lance asked softly.

Merlin kept quiet. For some reason, he wasn't ready to share that bit yet. The others sensed his discomfort and Morgana changed the topic abruptly.

"Well, the teachers have been missing you already, if your amount of homework has anything to show for it. It's much less that what I would have gotten had I been out for two days!" Morgana joked lightly.

"We also took the liberty of checking out your dorm," Will chuckled. "Seeing as you were 'sick' and all. It isn't a two-room dorm like Lance's and mine, but it's pretty cool. We got it all aired out and stuff."

Merlin smiled, meeting their eyes. "Thanks…I don't know what to say. I haven't done anything to deserve this kindness."

Gwen smiled slightly, although she still looked sad over Merlin's predicament. "Don't be ridiculous, we can tell you are a genuine, nice person. We know you would do the same."

Merlin nodded. He would.

"Well, Morgana and I have to go do some concert band rehearsal," Will said reluctantly, rolling his eyes over in Morgana's direction. "Have fun making up all that calculus."

Gwen got up, eyeing Lancelot in a strange way. "Er, I have to go too. Um…somewhere." She grinned suddenly, exchanged a wink with Morgana, and left.

Merlin was perplexed. But, now was not the time to fret over the sudden weirdness of his friends when they had been so awesome in caring for him these past two days.

Lance met his eyes slowly. The room was suddenly filled with some kind of unwritten tension.

"Merlin? How are you feeling?"

"Erm, okay, I guess. Just bruised…sore…nothing's broken." Lancelot nodded, relief coloring his eyes a darker hue.

Merlin looked away, unsure of why he suddenly felt a little flushed. He fidgeted slightly. "Do you mind if I take a shower?" He asked.

Lance supplied him with a large towel and pointed out the way to the boy's locker rooms.

Merlin yawned, feeling tired although it was strange since he had apparently slept two whole days away.

He got up, wobbling slightly before finding strength to stand and walk over to the bathroom. His bare feet padded silently on the carpet floors.

Camelot High…he still couldn't believe he was here. And that he had spent the first three days in a threateningly boring calculus lecture, a beating from four blokes he hardly knew, and a lot of sleep.

* * *

Lancelot quickly let Gwen inside the dorm after Merlin left.

"What are you doing, back here so soon?" he asked her, eyeing her excited face curiously.

"Oh, nothing, nothing." She fluttered about, picking up some of Merlin's papers that had fallen before sitting on the edge of the four poster, eyeing Lancelot in unrestrained delight.

"_what?" _Lance asked, suddenly nervous.

"Uhh…erm…just…well, you like Merlin, don't you?" she asked abruptly, clapping her hands to her mouth when the words escaped.

Lance blushed, running a hand through his long brown hair. "I don't know yet. There's just something about him…well, I can't place my finger on it. It's too early to tell…"

Gwen giggled. "No, it's not. But that's okay, I'll let you sulk. What is it about him? Is it the makeup?" She laughed again.

Lance grinned sheepishly back. "His makeup is pretty cool. But I think it's more what's behind those black lines…the blue eyes."

Gwen simpered. "Yay."

Lance tossed her a teasing glare. "Don't try and push us together. You know how well that worked out with Will."

"It _did _work out," Gwen insisted, but her smile faded. "He just…wasn't really interested in males after all, I suppose. It's not your fault."

Lance sighed, shrugged, and then smiled again. "No matter, I don't feel any remorse when I look at him."

Gwen beamed at him again, and Lance threw a cushion at her.

* * *

Arthur heard steps in the bathroom but didn't turn around. He was brushing his teeth in here and there was nothing anyone could do that would make him leave.

Arthur usually refrained from using the school's dorm bathrooms because, well, he had his own personal bathroom at home, and it looked unsightly using the same appliances as everyone else.

But lately, he didn't care what looked unsightly, or what his father would say when he heard the rumors of said unsightliness.

After Merlin…Arthur didn't know why, but suddenly everything seemed less important.

He still couldn't believe that Merlin had been away for two whole days. He should have stopped Elyon sooner…should have restrained Percival…shouldn't have even done the whole bloody thing in the first place!

Arthur slammed the knob of the sink angrily, turning the water off. He heard a small _slap _of feet on tiles as someone jumped at the sudden action.

He looked up…and saw a pair of frightened, deep blue eyes in the mirror.

Arthur whirled around.

_Merlin._

But the boy had already left.

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while! I hope that cliffie satisfied the wait :)  
Why don't you review and let me know what you think? Hehe **


	6. The Beginnings of Doubt

**Gwen and Lance help Merlin recover from his scare. Or, in which the chapter is short because we (merlinlost and friend) lead ridiculous lives. **

Merlin grabbed the handle of Lance's room and slammed the door behind him, leaning against it and breathing heavily.

_Fuck. _That had been _scary. _He hadn't expected to be that _afraid _when he saw Arthur…but when he met those pale blue eyes, suddenly he could remember everything, every blow made to his face…every muscle in his body that screamed with agony that night.

Merlin opened his eyes, which he realized too late were squeezed shut tightly.

Lancelot and Gwen stared back.

It seemed they had been in the middle of some strange impromptu pillow fight, and cushions lay scattered across the floor.

Weird. Merlin vaguely remembered Gwen saying she had to go "somewhere". Well, "somewhere" sure hadn't been far.

The girl in question let out a soft scream. "Merlin! What happened to you?"

Merlin realized his arms were shaking and tried to stop them. His already weak legs toppled over and the ground rushed to meet his face.

Strong, gentle arms caught him before he fell.

"Merlin," said a light, friendly voice above him.

Lancelot.

The friendly voice took a not so friendly turn. "What happened? Was Arthur outside?"

Merlin stiffened. Lancelot took this as a _yes._ He gently pulled Merlin over to the spare bed.

"No," Merlin croaked out, wincing at how pathetic he sounded. "He was…in the bathroom. Not…outside."

Gwen was suddenly beside him. "It's okay, I think Will has a shower in his dorm you can use instead."

Merlin eyed her incredulously and she couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah, he's pretty lucky. But you can go shower there if you like."

Lance nodded in agreement, although he didn't look so happy about the whole situation…with Arthur…or Will? Merlin couldn't tell.

**Alright so, we (we're officially teaming up on this fic, here we come Merlin) had some reviews asking where this plot was going. **

**None of us know. Any suggestions are welcome. **

**We also had a review asking how long this fic would be.**

**None of us know. Suggestions, suggestions.**

**Sorry for the lack of responses to reviews...we kind of lost track of how many reviews we responded to and didn't respond to, so to be fair to all, we responded to none.**

**Aren't we responsible?**

**But please, keep reviewing, we love them! We're just a pair of wierdos who can't keep track of things!**


	7. Triangles in Chemistry

**In which: Gaius is mischievous****_, _****the red hue of roses are nothing compared to Merlin's ears, and things happen that are worth twittering about. **

Arthur sat grumpily at his desk. Class was _boring. _When he had signed up for advanced chemistry, he hadn't expected this much _talking. _

Then the door opened. A tall, pale, slim figure walked in. Everyone hushed (nobody had really been paying attention to the teacher, so the whole room was pretty noisy although class was well underway at the time) when they saw who it was.

Arthur held his breath. Merlin.

He hadn't seen the boy since their brief encounter in the bathroom…the weekend had gone by in a flash of misery and confusion and now it was Monday…Arthur had forgotten Merlin would be coming back to school, Morgana had told him as much the day before.

Snarled the news at him, really. And although Arthur would never admit it to her, he knew he deserved every harsh word.

Merlin handed a slip to the teacher before weaving his lithe frame through the desks to an empty seat. Arthur winced internally when he saw the boy's movements were slower and more cautious than would be normal…his wounds must still be hurting.

Luckily he chose a seat far away from Arthur. Another encounter would probably embarrass them both…

Still, Arthur was disappointed. From this view, all he could see was the back of Merlin's head. His black hair was spiked up in a unique disarray and Arthur felt a wild urge to run his hand through the unruly strands.

Wow, this was crazy. What the hell was wrong with him? He was almost relieved when the teacher started talking again.

Almost. Because the next words that came out of Professor Gaius' mouth could have come straight from one of Arthur's nightmares.

"We will be conducting a lab today. I've assigned everyone with partners. Lance, you and Will are going to be working together. Morgana and Vivian, Cenred and Gwen, Elyon and Leon, Percival and George…"

It was almost as if the sly science teacher had let there be a dramatic pause before the last pair.

"Arthur and Merlin."

_Shit. Shit, no, no, no, this can't be happening. _

"This lab will be on the affects of osmosis on flower petals. You will each pick a flower…" Gaius' voice was drowned out by Arthur's internal angst.

_Why? Why. _Arthur shot silent daggers in Gaius' direction. He hoped his science professor knew the mad decision he had just made, pairing the school bully with his most recent victim.

All too soon, the classroom was breaking up into their assigned pairs. Morgana was literally clawing Arthur to pieces with her eyes, visually warning him not to lay a finger on Merlin.

Little did she know that Arthur had no such intentions anymore…well, he did want to lay a finger on Merlin, more than a finger, but not in _that _way…more in a…whoa. Arthur had to stop his train of thoughts before they crashed and killed his sane passengers.

* * *

Merlin rose shakily from his feet. He felt _terrible. _Percival seriously needed to stop wearing boots when he decided to beat people up, and stick to some nice, fluffy slippers instead. His head rang with complaints, and his ribs ached.

Merlin grabbed his notebook and pencil as he left, still irritated. He was _not_ going to be afraid of Arthur today. That would just be stupid. It wasn't as if…Merlin almost halted on his way over to the chemistry lab stations.

Arthur had never hit him. He had stood over and watched, saying nothing…but it wasn't until now that Merlin realized Arthur had never actually dealt a blow himself.

Wow. That was…that was…_what the hell? _That was even _more _coward-like. Telling his mates to beat him up and not dirtying his own hands. That seemed just like Arthur Pendragon…Merlin felt an inexplicable anger rising towards the boy he had never even met but had spent too much time with already.

* * *

Arthur lined up some beakers nervously, not even aware if they had anything to do with the experiment.

He risked a glance over at Merlin, who was standing stiffly and deliberately far from him. Long, pale fingers clutched at a pen and were furiously scribbling something down on the notebook underneath.

_Damn, _was Arthur supposed to be writing something as well? He had no idea…he hadn't paid any attention to what Gaius had said ever since he announced Arthur and Merlin were going to be partners.

Arthur eyed a tuft of black hair that had sneakily drifted into Merlin's line of vision. The boy kept prodding it upwards with his pen before resuming to write, only to have it fall back down again.

Arthur wanted to slide that strand of raven hair behind Merlin's ear. He wanted to –

Merlin looked up suddenly, meeting Arthur's gaze. His face contorted with some strange emotion before smoothing out again. Then his eyes dropped back to his notebook.

"Alright, we haven't got all day you two, hurry it up and start planning your experiment," Gaius said merrily, passing their table. Arthur glared at him when his back was turned. This was all going to go terribly and be his fault.

Although Arthur couldn't really think that…he knew whose fault it was, honestly. He knew it was truly his own fault that Merlin was giving his notebook more friendly looks than he was giving Arthur.

Arthur coughed, and Merlin jumped.

"Er, our experiment," Arthur said weakly, gesturing to the beakers he had aligned while Merlin had been writing.

"Right," Merlin spoke for the first time, and Arthur blushed. He _blushed. _

Crap.

Merlin's eyes rose to meet Arthur's, and he set his pen down. "Well, I was thinking roses."

Arthur stared.

"For our experiment…rose petals would have the greatest affect from osmosis…"

OH! Right. The experiment! _Damn that Gaius. _Arthur cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Um, yeah, I was thinking that too."

_Like hell you were, _Merlin's look told him.

Arthur decided it was time to put his act together. He reached over for Merlin's notes, and withdrew his arm when the boy flinched back visibly.

_Damn. _Merlin was _afraid _of him.

_Sorry. _Arthur felt the word spring onto his tongue and caught it before it left his lips.

_Sorry? Sorry you've become afraid of me? Sorry that I decided I needed to beat you black and blue last week to impress my mates and my dad…and myself? _

No, he couldn't say that. The single word sounded lame even to his own ears.

Speaking of ears…Merlin's had just turned a fiery pink. It matched the color of the boy's tongue, which Arthur remembered vividly from the other day.

The very same day Arthur had ordered Merlin's beating.

Seriously, how twisted was he, for Arthur to be thinking about the hues of the ears and tongue belonging to a boy he had hurt so badly?

On addition to that, Arthur had yet to hold a real conversation with the bloke.

For all he knew, Merlin could be very, very strange.

He did tolerate Morgana's presence, after all.

Arthur sighed, a harsh release of air that made Merlin twitch and sent the boy's pen skittering over the table.

It landed on Arthur's side of the table, and he was so astonished that for a moment, he did nothing.

Merlin's fingers poked him awake as the boy stretched his arm across the table and snatched the pen up, brushing his hand alongside Arthur's wrist as he did so.

Arthur moved his hand instinctively, and Merlin jolted again, sending the pen flying upwards into Arthur's face.

Arthur felt the tip of the pen graze across his face, and shut his eyes to avoid ink creeping in. He felt tempted to grin, except that would end up with him tasting something he really didn't want to taste.

It was just that the whole situation was so absurd. Here he was, the school bully, getting ink sprayed all over his face by a mere twitch from his latest victim! So, the pen really _is _mightier than the sword.

But when Arthur eventually opened his eyes, the pen falling with a clatter to the floor, he wished he could shut them again.

Merlin was staring at him with a horrified expression on his face, the shock in his blue eyes enunciated by his dark eyeliner.

Arthur cursed. He had almost forgotten that Merlin was afraid, and rightfully so. Plus, Arthur had just let the pen sit there awkwardly, making Merlin reach for it, instead of handing it over like any good fellow would.

Merlin gasped at Arthur's sound, and scuttled from the table, leaving Arthur to stand gaping at his own insensitivity.

He cursed again, and then one more time for good measure.

They were, after all, the words that probably made Merlin think Arthur still had a negative issue with him.

Arthur passed a hand over his face, and watched dully as it came back sticky and smeared with black liquid.

No doubt Arthur looked horrendous right now.

Horrendous in front of Merlin.

_Damn. Damn this stupid class and this stupid science project…_

_Damn that Gaius. _

* * *

Merlin sat with his back against a cold, random locker in the hall he had escaped to.

Which, now that he thought back on it, was a stupid decision. Why had he run from the classroom? It wasn't like Arthur could beat him up in front of Gaius (_damn that Gaius, for assigning them as _partners_, honestly) _or anything.

God, he felt like such a – a – a _girl. _Merlin covered his face in his hands, which were trembling slightly.

Stupid, stupid. And on top of all this drama, Merlin was missing valuable class time, time he had missed too much of already in the past week.

Okay. Oh. Kay. Merlin was going to devise a plan, and it was going to be foolproof. He would keep his head down, and concentrate on his studies, and push his girly fear aside. Oh yes, and he was going to ignore Pendragon, the bloody _prat, _as much as possible.

Besides the occasional scientific discussion during chemistry class, of course. There was no way Merlin was going to fail that course just because of his fear and the person who originated said fear.

A patter of footsteps jolted Merlin from his reverie and he looked up, realizing belatedly that his hands were locked in his hair.

He lowered them slowly, trying not to look as anxious as he actually was.

"Merlin?" An increasingly familiar head of cropped, brown hair came into view.

"Lance," Merlin said, as a way of answering.

Lancelot smiled at the nickname, and Merlin realized it was the first time he had called the boy by that name. He wondered what that meant.

"Merlin, Gaius was wondering where you went." So, Lance hadn't been out here just to check up on him? Merlin's heart sank a bit. Now he wondered what _that _meant.

"Er, I'll be fine. I'm just. Well. You know," Merlin said, waving his arm around as if the reason why he was sitting in an abandoned hallway was obvious.

Lance smiled understandingly, and crouched down beside Merlin, who had brought his hands back up to their merciless grasp on his hair.

"Yeah, 'you know', that's exactly what I told Gaius," Lance grinned, and Merlin had to laugh.

"I cannot _believe _my luck. And from Gaius of all people, I heard he usually partnered people up well," Merlin said.

"He's been especially daft today. I was paired up with Will - _awkward_. And Morgana and Vivian! Though I feel a bit more sorry for Vivian, actually, knowing what Morgana is capable of." Lancelot wrinkled his nose slightly.

Merlin laughed again, this time at Lance's expression.

"Hey," Lance said, his features suddenly soft. He reached for Merlin's hands and pried them away from his hair. "Is this some kind of stress reflex I should know about? Alongside the various other information I have obtained from your sleep talk?"

Merlin groaned in exasperation and poked Lance in the ribs. Lance promptly poked him back, and Merlin groaned again, this time from pain.

Lance's features immediately scrunched up in concern, but Merlin waved it away quickly.

"Just a little sore," he said.

Lance's eyebrow's narrowed accusingly.

"Okay, hurts like hell," Merlin admitted. "But enough of that, we should probably be heading back. You know, with Gaius looking for me and everything."

Lance ducked his head, peeking at Merlin through thick, brown bangs. "Gaius didn't actually send me..."

Merlin might have stared just a little at this declaration.

Lancelot averted his eyes quickly, spilling out his next words hurriedly. "I told him I had to go to the bathroom. I'm sure he's figured it out the truth by now, though. So yeah, we should probably be heading back."

Lance got up wordlessly, and began speed walking back to the classroom, his eyes fixed determinedly in the space in front of him.

Merlin caught up to him hurriedly, grasping Lance's arm to stop him because, well, he _did _hurt like hell, and needed to pause while speaking. It didn't hurt that Lance's arm was quite well-toned and warm and simply asking to be grabbed, either.

Lance looked at Merlin, surprised, and he suddenly felt a thrill of nervousness that hadn't made an appearance before when the two talked.

"Um."

Eloquent, Merlin.

"I just wanted to…say thanks. For checking up on me."

Lance's lips quirked into a simple yet radiant smile.

Yup, Merlin had a plan. To keep inconspicuous, focus on his studies, ignore _Prat_dragon, and his fear born from said prat. And also, maybe to spend some more time with Lancelot.

Foolproof.

At least, that's what he thought.

* * *

"What did you do to him?" Arthur recoiled onto his lab table as Morgana's voice hissed into his ear.

"What? I didn't do anything!" he squawked, turning to face his half-sister.

Morgana's countenance changed so rapidly from enraged to vindictively pleased when she took in his appearance, that Arthur had to suppress a shiver.

"Ha! Your face! It looks like you got some of what you deserved, then. Still, why did Merlin run out of the room? I know you did _something."_

Once upon a time, a long three days ago, Arthur would have been ranting about his sibling's unfairness. Now, he felt almost as happy as she that his face was currently smeared in ink.

Yup, it appears that his thought train had definitely crashed, a while ago. No sane survivors.

Arthur sighed. "Okay, so I might have given Merlin the impression that I'm still mad at him."

"What!?" Morgana shrieked, and the students who hadn't been ogling Arthur's new decorations turned to stare at them.

"Morgana! Will you shut up a bit? You're not even supposed to be here," Arthur hurriedly shoved the beakers about on the table, hoping Gaius would believe he was working.

Morgana ignored his words. "Honestly, Arthur! You freaking _scumbag, _first you beat him up, and what did he ever do to you, no, you had to go please _Uther, _that's right, I'm not even going to call him 'father', and now you keep a grudge -"

"Morgana! Morgana, shut up -"

" – I'm so, _so glad _your face looks a complete mess right now, I hope the ink stains won't come off in a thousand -"

"MORGANA!"

The incensed girl stopped her ranting for a minute, surprised at Arthur's outburst but still keeping up an impressive glare.

Arthur knew just about everyone in the classroom was listening at them now, and that must include Gaius…who wasn't doing anything to stop them, the twit.

The next words Arthur said would be heard as clear as glass, and he knew it. He also knew that he didn't give a shit.

"I said I gave Merlin the _impression _that I was mad at him. _Impression. _Like I gave him a false impression on about a jillion other things, that _aren't true_. I'm not mad at him. In fact, I'm quite sorry about everything."

There, he had said it, and Arthur swore he heard about ten twitter buzzes go off when he did. But it didn't matter. Nothing mattered except the fact that he had said it, and meant it, and was now being stared at by a pair of blue eyes he had memorized since day one.

**Longer chapter, to make up for the short one! Haha.**

**As you can probably tell by now, there will most definitely be a love-triangle in this fic. It shall be all pointy and triangular and angsty and fluffy. And Will shall be very helpful in the eventual confrontation between Arthur and Lancelot *gasps dramatically*  
As a side note, I would just like to clarify that I do not personally believe running out of a classroom characterizes someone as "girly". Girls are fully equipped with badassery (cue Morgana's well-intentioned ranting). I only added that bit in because it connects to some of the original BBC stuff from the show.  
Anyways, hope you enjoyed and reviews are welcomed. : )**


	8. That Place Before Desires Are Fulfilled

**Oh? Are there still people out there? *squints*  
Sorry everyone, it's been way too long since this was updated…so we've handed you something (hopefully) humorous and juicy to tide you over until the next plot twist!**

**In which, Morgana schemes (but in a good way), and Arthur and Merlin snog a bit (kinda). **

Arthur twiddled his fingers nervously.

There had never been a more awkward silence than right now.

He could just about _see _awkward turtles spawning all over the place.

Or he would, if he could tear his eyes away from Merlin's. The boy had just arrived into the classroom, and Arthur wasn't sure how much he had heard…enough, it seemed, to make Merlin stop and gape in the doorway.

Arthur's chest rose as he saw Merlin step forward…

…in order to make room for Lancelot, who had been standing behind him.

Arthur's hopes deflated, like a balloon deprived of air.

He had seen Lancelot leave, had _known, _instinctively, that the other boy had gone out in search of Merlin…

And now Merlin was back, his lips full, eyes wide, hair ruffled wilder than it had been when he left…

_Damn. _

* * *

Merlin wasn't sure if the world was still revolving. He almost wanted to trip, purposefully this time, to see if gravity was still alive and out there.

Because, seriously. Arthur Pendragon was driving him insane.

At first, Arthur hated him. So, naturally, Merlin hated him back.

Especially two days later, when he woke up from a freaking _group attack._

Where, he had realized, _Pratdragon _hadn't even made one blow.

And then, the coward went ahead and apologized after having clearly been made at Merlin moments before.

He forced himself to look away from the blonde boy who was, in fact, _staring at him._

Yeah, the world was still going round. Merlin was just on a different planet.

* * *

"Arthur."

Arthur turned around, and gaped when he saw who it was.

"Morgana! This is the _boy's _washroom!"

His half-sister rolled her eyes and grabbed the towel he held in his hands, before swiping viciously at his face.

"Mor -"

Arthur was cut off as the towel splashed across his lips. "Mmmf."

Arthur had retreated to the washroom after Chemistry had ended, using the pen on his face as a reasonable pretense for missing the next period.

Morgana looked a little too happy at taking over the job, but Arthur decided to forgive her anyways, because she had evidently forgiven _him, _or she wouldn't be here right now.

Or so he hoped. There was no guessing Morgana and her "iconoclastic" ways.

The girl in question finished up, and tossed the towel in the trash before crossing her arms and leaning against the nearest sink.

"_So_," she said.

It was odd how one word could sound so ominous.

"So," Arthur repeated, but it didn't sound as epic coming from him.

Morgana eyed him for a bit before continuing.

"You're sorry, then?"

Arthur nodded. There was no point in denying it now, even if it meant admitting things to his creepy sibling.

Morgana plucked at the sleeve of her dark blue sweater, which was wrapped tightly around her body.

"I still don't think that makes up for anything," she said eventually, and Arthur hung his head.

"I know."

Morgana looked up from her sweater, a look of surprise on her face.

"Well, Arthur _Pendragon," _she said, emphasizing the last name in reminder of who ruled over them both. "It seems you really _are _sorry."

Arthur wanted to scowl at her, but the timing didn't seem appropriate. He glanced away instead, leaning against a sink of his own.

A silence of pure companionship passed between them, and Arthur felt a rush of gratitude that Morgana hadn't given up on him.

"Alright. Here's what I've decided." Morgana broke the silence in a crisp, matter-of-fact tone that made Arthur almost retract his previous thought.

He knew_ that tone. _

And he was right. Morgana unleashed a plan that was as ridiculous as it would be if Arthur accepted it. But how could he not?

"If your really sorry and want to make it up to Merlin, you're going to have to befriend him."

_Why? _Arthur had asked. Merlin hardly wanted to be friends with him now.

"_Because_," Morgana explained, as if it was more obvious than adding, "Merlin's new, and needs all the support he can get. Especially since you made him out to be a loser on his first day, _Arthur. _But if the most influential boy puts said loser into a better light, via comradeship, Merlin will be popular, you will have made things up, I'll be awesome as usual – in other words, everybody's happy."

_Well, _Arthur had said.

"Besides, I know you want to be friends with him," Morgana added teasingly, as if she were dangling a biscuit in front of a hungry child. And in the end, the hungry child had agreed.

The biscuit – er, _plan - _ was foolproof.

Or so Morgana insisted.

* * *

Soft lips curved around Arthur's and he sighed into them, tugging the owner of the lips' lithe, bony frame closer to his own.

"Merlin," he murmured, and the boy responded, pale fingers scrabbling at Arthur's shirt.

Arthur coursed his own fingers through Merlin's thick black hair, running his hands over and over into the jet blank strands. Only his hands would make that hair look wild like this. Only his.

Warm arms wrapped around Arthur's torso, and he looked down to meet two dark blue eyes.

"Arthur," Merlin groaned softly, pulling them ever closer towards each other.

"Mmmm," Arthur whispered around Merlin's lips, peeking his tongue into the other boy's mouth. His hands explored where no other's would ever dare go from this day onwards, and his nose picked up a foreign, tangy scent, and his eyes…

…blinked open, revealing the ceiling of his room, barely outlined by the moonlight streaming through his open windows.

_Damn. _

A dream.

And a very vivid one, too.

Arthur broke the sleepy silence with a sharp inhale of his nose. He could almost smell the tangy scent the night had brought him moments before…

* * *

**That's all for today, folks. Sorry Arthur…don't worry, only a few more chapters (we think) until your dreams reach fruition! Until then, keep on pondering the mystery of the scent that is Merlin!**

**Thank you everyone who has been reading, reviewing and following/favoriting so far! Your support is always refreshing and encouraging! Uhm, and we slackers kind of need some motivation...please do not hesitate to berate us in your reviews for our slowness! And feel free to comment on your thoughts about this little segment ;) **


	9. Things Are Heating Up

**In which everybody loves Merlin. **

"Mer!"

Merlin sighed, and rifled about in his locker some more, pretending he actually needed something.

He appreciated having Morgana as a friend, he really did.

But this was just getting out of hand.

Since when had the leader of "iconoclasm" become so clingy?

"Mer, don't act like there's something in there that's more interesting than talking to your dear friend Morgana," came a mellifluous voice behind Merlin's ear, and suddenly Morgana was right up close next to him, staring him in the eye.

"Er," said Merlin.

"Eloquent as ever, I see," Morgana smirked. "Okay, off to class we go!"

The tall, slim, dark-haired girl proceeded to shuffle Merlin down the corridor and to their next class.

"_Morgana,"_ Merlin grumbled, but he wasn't really upset, because his backpack had been pretty heavy, and now Morgana was so close to him she was basically carrying it herself.

"Ooookay, see you after class, Mers," Morgana sang cheerfully, giving Merlin a last push through the doorway and making her way to her own desk.

Which happened to be right next to Arthur.

Which Merlin _only_ noticed because he just … couldn't help but … _only _because … _damn, _he had issues.

Merlin sighed, and crossed the room to his own desk, feeling the full weight of his backpack as heavily as the burden in his heart.

* * *

"What do you think you're doing?" Arthur's voice hissed into Morgana's ear, and she looked up from her notes abruptly.

"Pipe down, or Professor Nimueh will hear," Morgana scolded, before turning back to her paper.

Arthur spared their Professor one small glance before turning back to Morgana.

"She never notices anything. One time Merlin was doodling and she didn't even - "

He stopped, realizing a very ominous smirk was crawling up his step-sister's face.

Arthur changed tracks mid-sentence. "…anyways, what do you think you're doing, getting all up close with Merlin like that? I thought you planned to get him to befriend me, not _seduce _him."

Morgana's smirk stretched impossibly wide. Her eyes never left her paper, but she whispered, "I'm just making sure he sticks around me and doesn't get any unwanted attention…_jealous, _are we?"

Arthur scowled, and turned to his own notes. "Just trying to see if your plans actually work, _sister dear."_

Morgana looked up at that, planning on making some snappy retort, but her eyes fell upon Arthur's scarlet ears and she realized she had already won.

* * *

"Merlin!"

The boy who was being called sighed, reluctant to turn around.

"What is it, Morgana…"

Oh. For once, it was _not _Morgana.

Lance stopped in his tracks, craning his neck towards Merlin like a confused puppy.

Merlin smiled at the mental image, before tugging at Lance's shirt sleeve.

"Let's go to my locker to talk, so the school crowds won't trample us."

They stopped in front of Merlin's locker. Merlin turned towards Lance. The boy still hadn't uttered a single word.

"Er…Lance?" Merlin was alarmed to see Lance's cheeks were rapidly flushing scarlet.

"Merlin, do you – that is to say, can I – let's – I mean, it'll be Saturday tomorrow, so we've all got a day off. Do you want to go catch a movie with me?"

"Sure," Merlin responded quickly, relieved it hadn't been anything too serious. "What time do you want to go?"

Lance looked surprised for a moment, but then the blush faded and a smile slowly flitted onto his features.

They resumed an easy, normal conversation after that, and then the bell rang for Lance's next class, and he was off.

On Fridays like these, however, Merlin had lunch the next period, along with Gwen and Morgana, so he trotted off in the direction of the mess hall.

Before he could even reach the door, a figure slammed into his back.

"MERLINNNNN!"

"AGH – _Gwen!_"

"Merlin, what were you and Lance talking about just now?"

"He and I are seeing a movie this weekend. …Why?"

"Eeeee! (Gwen's squeal in written form) He asked you?!"

"What's all this about a movie? What's afoot?"

Oh God. Morgana.

"_Nothing_," Merlin said firmly, "is 'afoot.' Can we go get some lunch now?"

They all bought lunches and settled down at a spacious table, leaving Merlin to suspect it was all over.

How wrong he was.

"So Merlin, how exactly _did _Lance ask you out?"

"Gwen! He didn't ask me ou - " Merlin stopped. Er, he _didn't…_right? That would be…what would that be, exactly?

"What? Lancelot asked you out?" Morgana's voice sounded strangely ferocious.

Merlin felt something dangerous brewing. Yes, _now _something was afoot.

"Yes! You should sound more pleased, Morgana. Lance has had a thing for Merlin for a while now."

At least Gwen made some sense…wait what?

"Gwen, what exactly - "

"Sssh, Merlin! Gwen, what exactly do you mean?"

"You know what I mean, Morgana, don't tell me you haven't noticed it too!"

"Of course I haven't, Merlin isn't supposed to end up with Lance!"

"Don't be silly, it's up to Merlin who he ends up with."

"Yeah, I - "

"But of course he'd choose Lance. Ssssh, Merlin, Morgana and I are talking."

It went on like this until lunch was over, ending with a sniffling Gwen with pieces of Morgana's salad in her hair, a furious Morgana with pieces of her own salad in her hair, and a confused, but thankfully completely clean, Merlin.

* * *

Merlin ended up avoiding Lance for the rest of the day, a feat he blamed completely on his two female friends, whom he avoided as well.

Not that they noticed, as they were too busy shooting daggers at each other with their eyes, and too preoccupied with avoiding _each other _to notice if the same was being done to them by an outside party.

Which was ironic considering it was _Merlin _they were arguing about.

Or at least, he believed it was. And why was it, that they were arguing about him, in the first place?

And what did Gwen mean, when she said Lance had had a thing for Merlin for a while now?

Merlin was puzzled. Very, very puzzled. Solution? _Avoid all those who puzzle you. _

He had yet to know if it actually worked.

Unfortunately, avoiding the majority of his friends meant that Merlin had to spent an inordinate amount of time with Will, who offered no solace to Merlin except the wise words:

"Who knows? Birds sing funny tunes all the time."

Finally, school was over, and Merlin could escape to the studio, where he would lose himself in his work and just block himself from the world.

* * *

Arthur was pissed. To say he was pissed, actually, meant nothing, because he was more than pissed.

_Was he majorly pissed? _Arthur wondered to himself, while shoving books from his locker to his book bag.

_No, he was more than majorly pissed, too. _

Morgana was definitely the cause of it. What was she going to gain, by sticking so closely to Merlin's side all the time? And now she wasn't even doing _that, _because she was so busy fussing over something with Gwen.

And Gwen, too. _That distraction. _She was taking away Morgana's efforts towards _the plan. _

And of course, Lance. There was no way he could get out of contributing to Arthur's black mood. Although, for some reason, one Arthur couldn't fathom as of now, Merlin wasn't spending too much time with Lance.

That had to be good, right?

Well, if Morgana was going to waste time over petty squabbles with Gwen (_that distraction!_), Arthur would start something with Merlin himself.

And with that in mind, Arthur strode in the direction of Merlin's locker, ignoring the frantic pounding inside his chest.

When he got there, Arthur had to stop for a moment. Merlin's eyeliner was especially vivid today…and Arthur swore he was wearing mascara, too. Tight, dark grey jeans encased his legs…and that hoodie…_that hoodie…_Arthur was unaware until today just how hot a hoodie could look on a person.

Wait, what was he, some fashion designer? _Stop ogling his clothes and speak up._

But before he could open his mouth, the cause of his irregular heartbeat turned his head sharply and looked straight into Arthur's eyes.

**Dun, dun dunnnnn. What will the cause of Arthur's irregular heartbeat do?**

**Find out in the next chapter! **

**As usual, thanks so much for reviewing, favoriting, and following. **

**Shoutouts to (does fanfic do shoutouts? Well, it does now):**

**kitsune16487 – I hope this satisfied a little of your request with Arthur!**

**Mabudachi-trio – we thank you so much for your awesome motivational review! xP**

**cristina reid – I wouldn't say this chapter was long, per se, but it was posted not too long after the last, and I hope it satisfied. Thanks for your review xD**


	10. Our Gravitation

**In which Merlin gets beaten up by a textbook, Arthur is helpful, and Will is a village boy (kind of). **

Merlin eyed Arthur from where he himself stood, concealed halfway by his locker door.

He supposed he ought to be wondering what Pendragon was doing, stopping by his victim's locker like this, but honestly, Merlin was so confused at this point that he had long since ceased pondering the actions of the people at his school.

_I mean, honestly, _he thought. _It all started with Pendragon, and now all my friends have gone batty. _

Besides Will, of course. He had always been weird.

Plus, it was the end of a long day, a day which was at the end of a long week, and Merlin really just wanted to go to the studio and immerse himself in his work.

So, Pendragon was staring at him from across the hall, the same Pendragon who ordered his minions to knock Merlin out for two days, and the very same Arthur who also was now his lab partner and who fell victim to Merlin's pen attack?

Big. Whoop.

Merlin turned back around, and started shoving things in his locker, only half-aware that they were the same items he had been shoving in his bookbag moments ago, before Arthur –

Wait a minute. Had Arthur been _eyeing him? _

Eyeing him as in – _checking him out?_

No way.

Why would he?

He wasn't.

Was he?

Merlin's fingers slipped from under a particularly heavy textbook, which promptly went flying from the locker's shelf and smacked itself on Merlin's face.

He fell onto the floor and landed heavily on his backside, the textbook tumbling down next to him.

"Ouch! What the - "

"Merlin! Are you okay?"

_Oh shit. _Arthur was crouching down beside him, his face was inches away from Merlin's. Arthur's _concerned _face.

Why? Why concern?

The world made no sense anymore. There would be no hope for humanity. The apocalypse is happening, right now, and –

- and Merlin realized he still hadn't answered Arthur's question.

"Erm, yeah, I'm fine…"

"No you aren't, your nose is bleeding, look, it's bruising…"

_Well if you knew that already, why the hell did you ask?_

It wasn't until Merlin got a good look at Arthur's face (he had been avoiding eye contact until now) that he realized he had said the words aloud.

_The apocalypse is happening, right now, and – _

- and Arthur chuckled.

The boy's countenance had changed from one of shock to surprised amusement.

Merlin gaped.

More chuckling.

"You know, most people wouldn't dare say that to my face," Arthur said, his tone only mildly indignant.

"And why would that be, I wonder," Merlin managed to drawl sarcastically, but soon he was laughing all the same.

* * *

"Tell her, not until she admits that it is _not _L."

"Tell _her, _not until _she _admits that it _is _L."

"Then tell her that if she keeps thinking it is L, I won't bring snacks for Sunday's movie night."

"_Well, _tell _her, _that if she keeps thinking it _is _L, _I _won't bring snacks for Sunday's movie night, either. _Then we'll all be snackless."_

_"_What - that's not fair. Why should I have to suffer an empty stomach just because you and Morgana can't figure this shit out?"

Will met Gwen's glaring eyes and crossed arms with his own raised hands.

"Okay, okay," he conceded. "I'll pass on your little message like I've been doing all afternoon. I just don't see the logic behind this."

"Well, if you had put the effort into bringing some snacks on movie nights yourself, maybe you wouldn't be so bothered by our message passing," Gwen snapped.

Will sighed loudly.

"You know what Morgana's going to say, right? She'll just reply with some other wise-ass retort, and then we will be back where we started. Plus, she's on the other side of my locker, which is unfortunately situated right between you two. So, she can hear everything you just said."

"Shut up, Will, and just pass the message."

Will rolled his eyes and turned to his right, where Morgana stood with an equally defiant look on her face.

"Gwen wants you to know - "

"Oh, I know what she wants me to know! Damn you, Will!"

Oh. So it was his fault, eh? That made perfect sense.

Morgana and Gwen (whose locker was to the left of Will's) stood glaring icily at each other, while Will hummed noncommittally between them.

"You know," he said loudly, breaking the silence and making the two girls jump, "you could just _ask _Merlin if he likes Lance or not."

_"Who said this had anything to do with Lance?" _Morgana hissed so fiercely it would've made any snake on the world proud.

Even Gwen, usually mild-tempered and smiling, looked angry enough to wrestle those snakes.

Will shrugged nonchalantly. "Seriously, guys, who else do we all know who is even remotely related to the letter L?"

"There's Larry," Gwen supplied.

"Larry is straight and ugly as hell," Will pointed out bluntly. "If you were ever going to quarrel about _Merlin's_ romantic life, special emphasis on _Merlin's, _and bring up an "L", it would have to be about Lance."

Morgana and Gwen sported twin scowls of displeasure.

"But Morgana is ruining everything. Lance said he liked Merlin first," Gwen pouted.

"How am _I _ruining anything? I'm sure Lance is _not _who Merlin likes," Morgana snapped.

Will gave up on being the voice of reason (which was ironic, considering he was usually _never _the voice of reason) and left the two to squabble some more.

"The bell has already rung. I have to get home. I don't have time for this," Morgana sniffed, shouldering her book bag and turning about.

"_That's my line_," Gwen said indignantly, "but wait just a minute. If you don't think Merlin should be with Lance, then who do you think he should be with?"

Morgana halted, and seemed to think about it for a minute.

"I can't tell you," she said finally.

"Ugh, Morgana, what kind of argument is that?" Gwen sulked. "How can you refute Merlin being with L – I mean, Lance – if you can't even supply who he would be better off with?"

"Okay, okay," Morgana consented. "Arthur Pendragon."

Gwen's frown deepened. "You're not even going to be serious with me now?"

"No really, it's Arthur!"

There was a large silence.

And then – Gwen burst out laughing. It felt good to smile after this long, argumentative day, and so once she had started, she felt like she could never stop.

"Arth – Pen – Arthur _Pendragon?_ Morgana, I know you like your half-brother and all, but you can't just force him upon decent lads like this," Gwen managed to chortle out.

"I'm not forcing him upon Merlin! He honestly wants to be with the new kid."

Gwen stopped snickering and stared at Morgana's back. "Oh my gosh," she said softly.

"Yeah. You see why he should be with Merlin now, right?" Morgana asked, turning and facing Gwen.

Gwen remembered her indignance and stopped smiling immediately.

"_No,"_ Gwen said firmly. "Again, you may like Arthur loads, but _he beat Merlin up. _Don't think that's some kind of _turn-on_," she scoffed.

"Arthur knows, and he's really sorry!"

The statement sounded flat even in Morgana's ears, and she sighed.

"Look, I know that Lance seems like a much better candidate _now…_but Arthur's changed a lot since that night he beat Merlin up. He's honestly _sorry…_and it might sound ridiculous, but I don't think that brother of mine has really known the full impact of his actions until after that moment. I promised I'd help him become friends with Merlin…there's no harm in at least trying, right?"

Gwen considered it carefully. "Okay, but Will's got a point. It's all up to Merlin now. And don't think that this _apology _gets Arthur off the hook. I don't know if I can ever speak to him."

Morgana smiled at Gwen for the first time in a long time, although it was quite a malicious smile indeed. But of course, this was not directed towards Gwen herself. Oh no.

"I know," Morgana said. "I will not be letting him off easy."

Gwen smiled back, and it seemed for the moment, the two had agreed on something.

* * *

When Merlin logged onto his online messaging site later that afternoon, he was immediately attacked by virtually (pun intended) everyone he had just recently added.

**Chat 1:**

villageboy2: merlin! u will not belev the antccs of our fellow friends

1warLoCk: er, what's up, will?

**Chat 2:**

goldCrowns32: MERLIN. SPEAK TO ME NOW.

1warLoCk: yes, morgana? O.O

**Chat 3:**

Braidedsmith: Merlin?

1warLoCk: hello, gwen. hold on, ill add u all in another chat

**Chat 4:**

1warLoCk: hey guys!

villageboy2: huh, ths is knd uf awkwrd

1warLoCk: why?

goldCrowns32: cuz we all wanted to talk 2 u in private, you moron!

Braidedsmith: agreed.

1warLoCk: 2 bad

villageboy2: like i ws sayn…morana and gwn r weird.

1warLoCk: and?

goldCrowns32: will, I forbid you to reveal any further information

Braidedsmith: Merlin, Morgana and I saw you and Arthur in the hallway this afternoon. Did something happen?

1warLoCk: ok, no, i jst fell and he helped me up

goldCrowns32: told you, gwen.

1warLoCk: explanation?

villageboy2: obvsly there will b nun. i tol u dey were weird

Braidedsmith: Shut up, 'villageboy2'. So Merlin, what happened after that? Did you two talk?

1warLoCk: nooooo, i jst stared at him and then walked away.

goldCrowns32: MERLIN THIS IS IMPORTANT

1warLoCk: ok ok! yes he helped me up and then we tked for a bit.

Braidedsmith: About anything in particular?

goldCrowns32: ABOUT ANYTHING IN PARTICULAR?

villageboy2: ….

Braidedsmith: Merlin?

goldCrowns 32: MERLIN!

_1warLoCk has left the conversation._

villageboy2: oh shit.

**And with that, folks, we end this chapter.**

**So I guess this story is turning more romance/humor than romance/hurt/comfort, so we decided to change the genre.**

**Besides that, thanks so much for reading, reviewing, etc! In the next chapter, we will figure out why Merlin logged off so quickly, what exactly happened in that hallway, and follow Merlin on his and Lance's first date. Plus, Gwen and Morgana ****_might _****team up to get Arthur back for what happened to Merlin. Maybe. **

**Feel free to review! **


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